Device for laying pipe at an oil rigging



May 21, 1940. c. A. DOUD DEVICE FOR LAYING PIPE AT AN OIL RIGGING Filed Feb. 12, 1958 2 Shoots-Sheet 1 ATT'OW.

y 1, 1940. c. A. DOUD 2,201,813

FIGJL M M INVENTOR.

Patented May 21, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DEVICE FOR LAYING PIPE AT AN OIL RIGGING 3 Claims.

The present invention is directed to an apparatus for laying pipe at an oil rigging.

When the borehole for an oil well has been completed and it is desired to set casing, and at other times during the drilling operation, it becomes necessary to withdraw the drill bit and the drill pipe from the borehole. Ordinarily the drill pipe is removed a length at a time, each length is separated from the remainder and is laid down on suitable supports adjacent the rig. This operation is performed by elevating the drill stem by means of elevators until a length thereof extends above the rotary table, setting the slips in the rotary tablein place, separating the exposed length of the drill stem from the remainder, lowering the separated length which is still in the elevators, while guiding its free end toward the point at which it is to be laid down, until the upper end is low enough to be supported by workmen, detaching the elevators and laying down the separated pipe. This has always been a rather dangerous operation due to the weight of the pipe involved and has required the exercise of caution, wherefore it has been a slow opera- 26 tion. Since the elevators are involved in most of this operation, the slowness with which it has always been performed has slowed down the whole operation of removing drill stem from the borehole.

The principal object of the present invention is the provision of means for performing the above operation in a much more rapid and safe manner, said means being simple, rugged and inexpensive and foolproof in operation.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings in which- Figure l is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention in operative position;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of another embodiment thereof, including guide posts.

Referring to Figure 1 in detail, numeral l designates the floor of a derrick having a rotary table 2, in which is held the drill stem 3. A length of drill stem 4 is shown suspended over the rotary table by the elevators (not shown), it being understood that the elevators are merely clamping members carried by a cable operated by the draw-works.

Bolted to the derrick floor alongside the rotary table is an A-frame 5 having one of its legs extended upwardly, as at 6, for the purpose hereinafter specified. Preferably the feet of this frame 5% have no forward projection whereby the front of the frame presents a smooth surface to facilitate sliding it up onto the derrick floor and onto trucks.

Hingedly connected to the cross arm of the A- frame is a sleeve 1 in which is slidingly mounted 6 a rod 8 having an angular portion at the end of which is a plate 9 adapted to be bolted to the floor of the derrick at a point where an inclined plane Ill leads from the derrick floor to a runway ll, parallel to which the pipe is to be laid. The sleeve 10 l is shown pivoted to a pair of ears I2 by a pintle [3. This arrangement can be replaced by a collar slidingly mounted on the cross arm of the A- frame and carrying a socket into which sleeve 1 is screwed.

Rod 8 is provided with holes M on its telescoping end. A pin l5 carried by sleeve 1 is adapted to engage one of these holes to adjust the distance between plate 9 and the feet of the A-frame. 20

The other end of rod 8 is provided with holes I6 adapted to receive the shaft H the other end of which rests in one of a plurality of holes l8 in a standard Iii-spaced from rod 8. The upper end of standard I9 is bent outwardly away from rod 25 I8 to provide a guide for the pipe to be conveyed. Carried by shaft I1 is a roller 20. The height of the shaft is adjustable as indicated above. The roller is aligned with the rotary table and with a post 2| mounted at a remote point on 30 the runway I I.

The A-frame is offset slightly from the line running through the rotary table, the roller 20 and the post 2|. A cable 22 extends from the post 2| to the leg of the A-frame adjacent this 35 line. A pulley 23 carrying a hook 24 rides on this cable. The cable is provided with a stop 25 to limit the outward travel of the pulley.

When a length of drill pipe is lifted from the derrick floor, as shown, its free end is moved over until it can be engaged by the hook 24 with the pulley 23 in its uppermost position. The elevators are then lowered and the pulley 23 leads the free end of the pipe over the roller 20. As the 5 pipe continues to descend it finally rests on the roller 20 with its free end supported by the hook 24 on pulley 23. The elevators can then be removed and the pipe, being released, moves by gravity until its free end, the end that was 50 formerly engaged by the elevators, slides down the inclined plane It to the runway H, at which time the pulley 23 will have come to rest against the stop 25. The hook 26 is then disengaged from the end of the pipe which is then rolled into place on the rack, composed of beams 26, ad- Jacent the runway II.

The upwardly extended portion 8 of one of the legs of the A-frame is a safety feature designed to prevent pipe from swinging over to the wrong side of the A-Irame and to protect a worker who is usually stationed behind the A-frame from falling pipe.

Referring to Figure 2, the arrangement of the parts is substantially the same as that shown in Figure 1 with the exception that the A-frame is replaced by a single post 21 at the top of which is a pulley 28 over which the cable 22 is trained to an eye 23 secured in the derrick floor. The post 21 is slotted to receive the pulley 28 and is provided with holes 30 to support the shaft of the pulley at diflerent heights. The roller 20 is mounted on a separate frame comprising arms 31 in which is journaled the bearing 32 on which the roller 20 turns. The other end of the cable 22 is secured to one end of a turnbuckle 33, the other end of which is secured to an eye 34' fixed in the runway.

An additional feature of the combination shown in Figure 2 is the guide posts 35. These posts are suitably spaced and are so arranged as to receive a length of pipe after it has been conducted by the hook 23 on pulley 23 to stop 25. Each post consists of an upright bifurcated member in which is arranged a plurality of transverse holes 33. An arm 31 has one end shaped to ride in the bifurcated member 35 and has that end provided with a perforation to receive a pin 33 which is passed through one of the holes 36. Thus the arms on the respective guide posts can be fixed at the same height and at a height which corresponds to the height of the pile upon which the pipe is to be laid. This arrangement eliminates practically all of the handling of the pipe after it has been brought down to the runway, since the operator need only to release the hook and start the pipe rolling along the arms 31. In most cases the arms 31 will have enough slope so as to impart the necessary acceleration to the pipe without any eflort on the part of the operator.

It is apparent that many changes may be made within the scope of the present invention without departing from the basic principles underlying it. All such changes are contemplated within the purview of the appended claims in which it is intended to claim the above described combination as broadly as the prior art permits.

I claim:

1. An arrangement for laying pipe as it is removed from the drill stern in a borehole which comprises a cable stretched from a point adjacent the point of removal of said drill stem from the borehole to a remote point. said cable being sloped downwardly toward said remote point, a pulley riding on said cable carrying means adapted to receive the end of a length of drill stem and a support arranged adjacent the point of removal of said drill stem from the borehole adapted to support a length of the drill stem after one end of the latter has been carried toward said remote point by said receiving means.

2. An arrangement, according to the preceding claim, in which a pair of standards are arranged in alignment in a line substantially parallel and adjacent to the cable, each standard being provided with a laterally extending arm, said posts being so spaced that the arms are adapted to receive a length of pipe which has been conveyed to a suitable position by the receiving means on said cable.

3. An arrangement for laying P p as it is removed from the drill stem in a borehole which comprises an A shaped standard arranged adjacent the point of removal of said pipe from the borehole, a rearwardly extending telescoping arm hingedly connected to the cross bar of said A shaped standard at one of its ends and having its other end terminating in an oifset portion adaptedtobe securedtothesamepianesstheA shaped standard in a vertical position with respect to said plane, a plurality of vertically Spaced holes in said oifset portion, a second vertical standard spaced from said offset portion and provided with holes arranged to form with the holes in said oil'set portion a plurality of seats of diiferent heights for the shaft of a roller, a roller arranged in one of said seats, a cable attached to the upper portion of said A standard on the side adjacent said roller and extending to a point remote from said A standard in such a way as to slope downwardly from said A standard, a pulley riding on said cable and a hook attached to the CHARLES A. DOUD.

- pulley. 

